Minimally invasive surgical techniques such as endoscopies and laparoscopies are often preferred over traditional open surgeries because the recovery time, pain, and surgery-related complications are typically less with minimally invasive surgical techniques. Rather than cut open large portions of the body in order to access inner cavities, such as the peritoneal cavity, surgeons either rely on natural orifices of the body or create one or more small orifices in which surgical instruments can be inserted to allow surgeons to visualize and operate at the surgical site. Surgeons can then perform a variety of diagnostic procedures, such as visual inspection or removal of a tissue sample for biopsy, or treatment procedures, such as removal of a polyp or tumor or restructuring tissue.
Because of the rise in popularity of minimally invasive surgeries, there has been significant development with respect to the instruments used in such procedures. These instruments need to be suitable for precise placement of a working end at a desired surgical site to allow the surgeon to see the site and perform the necessary actions at such site. Often times the instruments either themselves contain a device that allows the surgeon to see the site, or else the instruments are used in conjunction with an instrument that can provide visual assistance. At least one of these types of devices, an endoscope, is typically configured with both a lens to visualize the surgical site and one or more channels through which instruments can be delivered to the surgical site for subsequent use. The instruments themselves can be used to engage and or treat tissue and other portions within the body in a number of different ways to achieve a diagnostic or therapeutic effect.
Like most surgical procedures, minimally invasive procedures require stability and precision at the surgical site. In small body cavities, strength and stability can be provided by the walls of the body cavities. In larger body cavities, however, there is generally a significant amount of three-dimensional space, and thus the walls of the larger body cavities are generally unable to provide the desired strength and stability. Walls of various organs and parts in the body are also used to assist in directing the endoscope to a desired location, for example by deflecting the endoscope against the walls in the body. In larger body cavities, however, there are no such walls to provide the desired deflection, and thus it can be difficult to deliver an endoscope to and/or through a larger body cavity. It can likewise be difficult to extend and retract the endoscope in places with a large amount of three-dimensional space. To the extent that devices, systems, and methods have been designed to help address this problem, they are limited for a number of reasons. Many still do not provide the desired strength, stability, control, and endoscope-growth capabilities. Further, devices, systems, and methods capable of providing strength, stability, or control are typically disposed on an outside of an endoscope. Disposing such devices on an outside of an endoscope adds additional instrumentation and size to be disposed in the body, which is generally not desirable, and thus increases the potential for harming the patient. It is generally preferred to minimize the number of instruments and the size of those instruments in a body, particularly during a minimally invasive procedure.
Accordingly, there is a need for new devices, systems, and procedures for controlled movement and stability within large body cavities. There is also a need for devices, systems, and methods that easily allow an endoscope to be extended and retracted within a body cavity so as to grow and reduce the size and shape of the endoscope as desired.